If there’s a fire in Pueblo West or the county, chances are he’ll be there.

A bad car accident, someone missing in the Greenhorn Valley or lost in the waves of Lake Pueblo — count on Jacketta.

And he’s either running the operation or scuba diving, repelling down a cliff or allocating for more resources on the radio.

To those who don’t know him, Jacketta is a deputy with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, assigned to the Emergency Services Bureau.

He’s also an assistant fire chief in Pueblo West and a former volunteer park ranger/game warden.

Since he was a kid, he dreamt of becoming a cop. At 14 he joined the sheriff’s explorer program and he’s been with the office ever since, climbing the ladder to volunteer deputy, to dispatcher, to full-time deputy and master deputy.

At 38, he’s married to his work, usually logging 60-hour weeks in various uniforms — deputy, firefighter, HAZMAT, diver, emergency medical technician

“This is all I do . . . but I have great girlfriend,” the Centennial High graduate said, breaking into a hardy laugh.

“Dylan is one of those guys that can be everywhere at every moment whenever you need something,” said Pueblo West Fire Chief Brian Caserta.

“He is always very willing to help. His knowledge and experience working in Pueblo County far exceeds anybody I know. If there’s something to know about this county, its people, its location, Dylan is the guy to ask.”

As the chief of the Emergency Services Bureau and an assistant Pueblo West fire chief, Mark Mears works all too often with Jacketta.

“I can’t think of anything he can’t get done, through partners he might know or logistics. He seems to put everything together and get it done,” Mears said.

‘A job you love’

It is typical to hear Jacketta on the radio scanner in the middle of major and minor incidents around the county.

When he’s not on duty at the sheriff’s office or the fire department, he’s at home listening to radio traffic. He’s pretty much on call 24/7, being that his responsibilities stretch from search-and-rescue, wildfire coverage, water recovery and hazardous material clean-up.

“If you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, and there’s truth that holds to that,” he said. “I’m just very lucky I have these capabilities. I can’t tell you I’ve been to a call that was the same. Something is always different. In the morning you may be on a snowmobile looking for a lost person in Greenhorn or a lost swimmer at Lake Pueblo in the afternoon.

“My girlfriend has asked me ‘How was your day?’ And I say it was a train wreck. And you know what? It was.”

Well equipped

Life’s road never took Jacketta to college. His skills and certifications were acquired with training and experience, which he carries with him like a gun and radio on his belt. He’s also quick to acknowledge the help he receives from co-workers, outside agencies and volunteer deputies.

Think of the most remote, far-flung reaches of the county and Jacketta’s been there, able to give directions.

“I challenge you to find a place in Pueblo County I haven’t been to,” Jacketta said.

And he seldom forgets — cases, details, random tidbits.

“He knows stuff no one else will remember. People will call him, even when he’s off, to ask him things,” said co-worker Lisa Shorter.

A four-wheeled office

Jacketta has an office in the emergency operations center, located in the basement of the judicial building. It’s decorated with hundreds of law enforcement patches he’s collected over time.

Then there’s his real office — his truck.

“I need a pickup. When these rural folks get in a bind, and they call us, there’s a reason for it,” Jacketta said, recalling his days patrolling the eastern and southern regions of the county and more specifically, helping to save a horse from a hole and a person trapped in a well.

“He has a unique skill set he has helped attain throughout the years,” said Sheriff Kirk Taylor. “He does a very good job and he’s a great resource for me to be able to draw on when we have fires, search and rescue.”

Action magnet

For all his talents, skills and knowledge, Jacketta has a knack for finding action. Or maybe the action finds him?

“I do have the tendency to be in the wrong place at the right time,” he said.

Now, back to those patches in his office. He has about 5,000 in his collection, obtained through dealings with each agency.

“What a cool way to attach a story with a patch,” he said.

One such story was when he stopped a vehicle with a bull moose strapped to its top. The moose was killed in Alaska and illegally exported.

“It was a pretty huge poaching case and an Alaska state trooper sent me that patch.”

From the first day he went on patrol, as a volunteer, Jacketta was a magnet for action. That first shift he caught a bank robber and the second day he caught a suspect in a stolen Fort Carson police car.

“The sergeant at the time said, ‘Ya know, you’re only a volunteer deputy and you’ve only been at it for two days. You should take a day off,’ ’’ Jacketta said.

A career highlight was leading a strike force of firefighters into the Waldo Canyon Fire last year in Colorado Springs.

The weight of the task leveraged with the role of group leader was an unforgettable learning experience.

“I deal a lot with death. They like to say it’s all fun and games until someone dies. What we do is fun, but sometimes it’s hard to deal with adrenaline and depression at the same time from an event you’re seeing,” Jacketta said.

The experience of loss came early for Jacketta. His father, a used car salesman, died in a drunken driving accident when he was 11.

Intoxicated and behind the wheel, the elder Jacketta died after rear-ending a semi at high speed near Pueblo Memorial Airport.

“I do a lot of DUI patrols because of that,” Jacketta said. “If I could have one summary of my law enforcement career, it’s that alcohol is the consistent variable through crime.”

An only child, Jacketta’s mother lives with him now in Pueblo West.

All work

As for life outside of work, there’s . . . well . . . work.

“For hobbies? I’m a fire chief,” Jacketta said with laughter. “Hobbies are for retirement, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.”